mr. speaker , i yield myself such time as i may consume . 
mr. speaker , we have a democrat substitute that really is not in sharp conflict with the republican bill . 
many things we tried and include and did suggest in the brief time we had to work on this bill . 
basically , what we have done , though , is to pay more attention to the middle class that really are the victims of the alternative minimum tax than we pay attention to the richest of america who do not find their republican tax cuts being threatened until 2009 . 
why did we do this ? 
is it merely a technicality ? 
it is a very important difference . 
yes , we voted on the suspension calendar to provide relief for these people , not as much as we do in our substitute ; but people have to understand the suspension calendar in the house is not protected under the other body 's rules . 
they protected those people that they wanted to protect , those enjoying capital gains and will continue to enjoy capital gains and corporate dividend tax cuts until 2009 . 
why would they not include right in this bill , that would be protected on the other side , i do not know their political reasons . 
but i do know this : what we refuse to do is to give tax cuts that would extend the deficit . 
we do not do that to generations that follow . 
nor do we hit the poor who are sick or the kids that want to go to school or the foster kids or those kids that are dependent on money from their fathers who have abandoned their mothers . 
we do not do it in this season , nor do we do it anytime , because there is a difference in what we believe in . 
i am suggesting this : if members support the substitute , you are supporting deductions for state and local taxes , real estate taxes , the deduction for college tuition , the research credit they talk about that we agree is so important , the work opportunity tax credit , tax incentives for the district of columbia and for indian reservations , 15-year depreciation period for leasehold improvements and restaurant improvements , qualified zone academic bonds , the brownfields cleanups , and several other important , but minor , provisions . 
what i am suggesting is that the major decision of those of you who will have to vote is whether or not you want to give $ 20 billion of tax relief to people who would not need it until 2009 at the expense not only of the deficit but at the expense of the poorest among us ; or whether you want to take the good things that we could find in this bill , not increase the deficit and not cut the programs for the poor , and have a democratic substitute that makes sense to the american people and , hopefully , to the house of representatives . 
mr. speaker , i reserve the balance of my time . 
